Effects of Cr and Si additions under the various deposition conditions on the mechanical properties of the (Zr-Ti-Nb)N coatings

In this work, (Zr-Ti-Nb)N, (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb)N and (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb-Si)N coatings by the vacuum arc technique are studied. The coatings are characterized in terms of morphological and mechanical properties by scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy and hardness tests. The systematical investigations demonstrate that the deposition parameters (pressure of working gas and substrate bias) intimately influence on the chemical composition, morphology and hardness properties of the coatings. Finally, the hardness values are in the ranges from 24 to 44 GPa. The best adhesive strength at different conditions was provided by (Zr-Ti-Nb)N and (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb)N coatings. The (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb-Si)N coatings exhibited the worst adhesive strength, which may be referred to the relatively low hardness.